Wire-rope winding machine and method of its operation

ABSTRACT

In the swinging portion of the wire-rope winding machine the holder with the reel is so positioned inside the rotor that their common centre of gravity lies on the rotor axis. The holder is restrained from rotation when the rotor is in motion by means of an electromagnet in whose magnetic field the holder is located. Deviation of the holder from the normal position is signalized by transducers disposed in the magnetic field of each electromagnet. The design of the twisting portion permits the axis of the machine rotor to be located in the vertical or inclined position.

Groza et al.

[ Jan. 15, 1974 WIRE-ROPE WINDING MACHINE AND METHOD OF ITS OPERATIONInventors: Viktor Filimonovich Groza, ulitsa Darvina, 7, kv. 12; Nikolailvanovich Drozdov, ulitsa Lazareva 1; Jury Nikolaevich Sharapov, 521

mikroraion 73, kv. 16; Alexandr Iosipovich Garbovitsky-Gordon, ulitsaDarvina l9, kv. 21, all of Kharkov; Khristofor Sergeevich Shakhpazov,prospekt Mira 188, korpus 4, kv. 30, Moscow; Nikolai GrigorievichFilatov, gostinitsa Rossia, Ore]; Ivan Timofeevich Skripnik, ulitsaTikhomirova 9/3, kv. 190, Moscow; Alexei Trolimovich Semkin, ulitsaGastello 26, Khartsyzsk Donetskoi oblasti; Vladimir Ivanovich Vasiliev,ulitsa Vokzalnaya 68, kv. l3, Khartsyzsk Donetskoi oblasti; ValentinDmitrievich Judin, ulitsa Vokzalnaya 72a, kv. 50, Khartsyzsk Donetskoioblasti; EvgenyJurievich Belenky, pereulok Patarzhikskogo 7, kv. 6,Khartsyzsk Donetskoi oblasti; Anatoly Evgenievich Grigorenko, ulitsaMira 9, Khartsyzsk Donetskoi oblasti; Gennady Fedorovich Baryshnikov,ulitsa Suvorova 126/4, kv. 44, Magnitogorsk Chelyabinskoi oblasti, allof USSR.

Filed: Oct. 24, 1972 Appl. No.: 300,320

[52] US. Cl 57/58.34, 57/58.76, 57/78,

318/489 [51] Int. Cl. D07b 3/12, D07b 7/02 [58] Field of Search 57/34 R,58.3, 58.32,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,499,245 2/1950 Harman57/58.36 X

2,499,246 2/1950 Harman 57/58.32

3,095,686 7/1963 Steinlcin 57/58.3 3,636,692 l/l972 Berges 57/58.3

Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Assistant ExaminerCharles GorensteinAttorney-John C. Holman et al.

[57] ABSTRACT The design of the twisting portion permits the axis of themachine rotor to be located in the vertical or inclined position.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTEUJANIEW 3,785,139

SHEU 1 BF 5 FIE! PAIENIED N 3.785.139

SHEET 2 UP 5 an nnnnn PATENTEU JAN 1 5 ISM saw. 3 OF 5 PATENTEBJAN 151914 SHE-1 5 BF 5 WIRE-ROPE WINDING MACHINE AND METHOD OF ITS OPERATIONBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a wire-ropewinding machine and method of its operation.

This invention may be utilized the wire-rope and electric-cableproduction industries, for example, in the production of metal cord,cable and their strands.

Known in the art is a wire-rope winding machine having a twistingportion which incorporates a frame mounting a hollow rotor on supportswith at least two wire reel holders installed in the rotor along theaxis thereof and kept stationary during rotation of the rotor andequipped with holder position signalizers which operate when the holderis seized by the rotor, and a rope forming die fixed on the framecoaxially with the rotor.

Holes are made in the side surface of the rotor to install the wirereels. The number of reels depends on the type of the rope produced. Therotor is rotated by means of a drive unit which is also connected to adrawing drum followed the forming die, as well as to a rope guidingmechanism and a receiving drum.

In twisting wires to make a rope, the wires should be prevented fromspinning around their axis so as to avoid structural stresses. Thisrequirement can be met if the wire reels are kept stationary duringrotation of the rotor.

In the known wire-rope winding machine the reel holders are installedinside the rotor in such a way that their centres of gravity are locatedbelow the rotor axis. In this case the holders are installed in bearingsupports and during rotation of the rotor the holders remain stationary.Machines having a twisting portion of this design allows only thehorizontal positioning of the axes of the rotors which is a disadvantagebecause it leads to uneconomical use of the production floor areas.

Another significant disadvantage of the machine of known design lies inthe fact that the holder rotates together with the rotor if a bearingfailure arises in the support, thus resulting in the holder becomingseized.

Because the centre of gravity of the holder is off-set in relation tothe rotor axis, the rotation of the holder generates a centrifugal forceacting on the holder and the rotor supports which often completelydestroys the machine. In addition, this process is so rapidly developed(not longer than l-2 sec) that timely stoppage of the machine by anoperator is paractically impossible.

The machines of prior art also incorporate devices for automatic cut outof the drive units.

However, these devices are sensitive only to the developing destructionprocess but not to its commencement. In one known case this device takesthe form of a vibration transducer sensible to increased vibrations, inanother case it is a mercury switch whichcuts out the drive unit of themachine when the holder turns to a certain angle from its normalposition.

The first of these devices is reacts too slow because it only indicatesthe result of the holder seizure, but not the commencement of theprocess. The second device cannot be relied upon because a signaltransmitted from the mercury switch to an actuator to cut out the driveunit has to go through several sets of slip rings which are unreliablein operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention to obviate the above disadvantages and to provide a wireropewinding machine with a twisting portion of such a design which ensuresreliable and trouble-free operation of the machine and permitspositioning of its rotor other than horizontal for more efficient use ofthe production floor area.

This and other objects are achieved due to provision of a wire-ropewinding machine having a twisting portion which incorporates a framemounting a hollow rotor on supports with at least two wire reel holdersinstalled in the rotor along the axis thereof and kept stationary duringrotation of the rotor and equipped with rotor position signalizersacting when the holder is seized by the rotor, and a rope forming diefixed on the frame coaxially with the rotor.

According to the invention, the twisting portion of the machine mountsthe electromagnets with the magnetic field of each of them encompassingthe corresponding reel holders, the reel holders being so positionedinside the rotor that the centre of gravity of each of them lies on theaxis of the rotor which is made of non-magnetic material. The holderposition signalizer represents essentially two choking transducerspositioned in the magnetic field of each electromagnet and electricallyconnected to the rotor drive unit and adapted to stop the rotation ofthe rotor when the holder deviates from the given position. I

The location of the centres of gravity of the reel holders on the rotoraxis excludes any centrifugal force which could destroy the machine incase the holder is seized by the rotor, i.e., the machine operationbecomes trouble-free.

The wire-rope winding machine, according to the present invention, witha swinging portion embodied as described above to permit its operationis characterized in that the machines are positioned in two rows, whilethe axes of the rotors of their twisting portions are located at anangle of 0-60 to the vertical.

Such positioning of the rotors of the wire-rope winding machines permitsa substantial reduction of the floor area occupied by the machines andan improvement in the servicing conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to make the present inventionmore readily understood a specific embodiment thereof will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the plan view of the wire-ropewinding machine with a twisting portion according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along IIII in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is as FIG. 2, the holder being shown deviated from the normalposition;

FIG. 4 is a connection diagram of the holder position transducers;

FIG. 5 is a general view of the wire-rope winding machine, showing oneversion of the embodiment of the holder position signalizer;

FIG. 6 is a general view of the wire-rope winding machines with thetwisting portions thereof installed vertically;

FIG. 7 is a view along arrow IIII in FIG. 6',

FIG. 8 is sectional view along III-III in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a side view of the wire-rope winding machines whose twistingportions are angled to the vertical.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the wire-rope winding machine has a twistingportion which incorporates a rotor 1 representing essentially acylindrical shell 2 whose ends are closed with covers 3.

Installed inside the shell 2 along its axis are supports nected to anactuator 24 (FIG. 4) to cut out the drive 4 with bearings 5 which mountaxles 6 with holders 7 of reels 8 wound with wire 9.

The axles 6 of the holders 7 are hollow to draw the wire 9 off thecorresponding reel 8.

Fixed on the surface of the shell 2 of the rotor 1 along the generatingline of the shell are ceramic rings 10 serving as guides for the wire 9delivered out of the axle 6 of the holder 7 of each reel 8.

Made integral with the covers 3 are axles ll of the rotor l which arehoused in bearings 12 installed in supports 13.

A drawing drum I8 is provided to draw the rope 16 out of the die 17.Disposed after the drawing drum 18 is a guiding mechanism 19 to placethe rope 16 on a receiving drum 20.

The rotor l, the drawing drum 18, the rope guiding mechanism 19 and thereceiving drum 20 are installed on the frame 14 and are operated from acommon drive unit 21 with which they are kinematically linked. I

Each holder 7 with the reel 8 is so installed in the rotor 1 that theircommon centre of gravity lies on the axis of the rotor 1. Due to thisarrangement, no destructive centrifugal force occurs which would destroythe machine in case of failure or jamming of the bearings 5 wherein theholder 7 is mounted, or if the holder 7 is seized by the rotating rotorl.

The technology of making the rope 16 requires that to prevent spinningof the wire 9 along its axis each holder 7 should remain stationaryduring rotation of the rotor 1.

The requirement is met by the following arrange ment.

According to the invention, an electromagnet 22 is installed on theframe 14 beyond the rotor l for each individual holder 7. The magneticfield of each electromagnet 22 encompasses the corresponding holder 7 torestrain it from rotating when the rotor 1 is in motion. To preventscreening of the magnetic field the shell 2 of the rotor I is made of anon-magnetic material, such as fibreglass plastic. The electromagnets 22are energized from an alternating current mains or a direct currentsource (not shown in the drawing).

unit 21 of the machine when the holder 7 deviates from its normalposition.

An actuator 24 is connected to the choking transducers 23 via atransformer 25. The choking transducers 23 are connected to each otherto form two arms of a differential bridge. The primary winding of thetransformer 25 is connected to another two arms of the differentialbridge. The transducers 23 via the transformer 25 are wired to theactuator 24 which cut out the drive unit 21 to stop the rotation of therotor 1 if the holder 7 is captured by the rotor.

A source of alternating current (not shown in the drawing) energizingthe transducers 23 is connected to the bridge diagonal via a transformer26.

The position signalizer of the holder 7 may also take the form of aradiant energy emitter 27 (FIG. 5) and a detector 28 which both areinstalled on a common axis parallel to the axis of the rotor l, and anumber of discs 29 with a hole 30 rigidly fastened to each holder 7. Thehole 30 made in each disc 29 is disposed in the beam path.

The herein disclosed wire-rope winding machine with a swinging portionaccording to the invention allows the rotor l of the machine to bepositioned so that the rotor axis occupies any other than horizontalposition for convenient servicing of the machine under actual productionconditions.

According to the invention, the disclosed design of the twisting portionof the machine permits the rotor l to be installed so that its axis islocated at an angle of 0 to 60 to the vertical.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the wire-rope winding machines with the rotors 1installed vertically in two rows. This makes it possible to reduce theproduction floor area accupied by the machines l0l5 times compared withthe area occupied by known machines. One more advantage of thisarrangement is associated with the convenient servicing of the machineswhich permits a single workman to attend a considerable number ofmachines with a corresponding increase in of the labour productivity.

FIG. 9 illustrates the machines whose swinging portions are so installedthat their rotors l are angled to the vertical.

The arrangement is more preferable for the machines incorporating heavyreels 8 whose installation into the holders 7 requires special handlingfacilities.

Arrangement of the machines in two rows allows a single electromagnet 22to be used for two adjacent holders 7 of the reels 8 disposed at acommon level (FIG. 8).

The wire-rope winding machine operates as follows.

Prior to cutting in the drive unit 21 of the machine, the electromagnets22 are switched on and simultaneously the power source of thetransducers 23 is also switched on.

This gives rise to a magnetic field between the poles of eachelectromagnet 22 to encompass the corresponding holder 7 with the reel8.

The shell 2 of the rotor 1 does not screen the magnetic field of theelectromagnets 22 because the shell is made of fibreglass plastic.

Then, the drive unit 21 is cut in.

Rotation of the rotor l is thus initiated, drawing drum l8 and receivingdrum 20, and the motion of the mechanism 19 guides the rope 16 so thatit is taken up by the receiving drum 20.

Due to the presence of the magnetic field of the electromagnets 22, theholders 7 of the reels 8 remain stationary when the rotor l is inrotation. The wire 9 does not spin around its axis. Amperage of thepower source of the electromagnet 22 should be appropriately chosen sothat the magnetic-field intensity set up of the electromagnet 22 isenough to generate a torque in excess of the frictional moment in thebearings 5 of the holder 7.

The wire 9 is continuously delivered from each reel 8 through the axle 6of the holder-7 intothe corresponding ceramic rings 10 and the holes inthe axle ll of the rotor l toward the forming die 17.

As the rotor l is rotating while the forming die 17 is stationary,winding of the rope 16 takes place.

The completed rope 16 is brought to the drawing drum 18, wherefrom viathe guiding mechanism 19 it is collected on the receiving drum.

Any jamming of the bearing 5 in the support 4 of the holder 7 or captureof the holder 7 by the rotating rotor l is signalized by the transducers23. Altered positioning of the holder 7 results in reshaping of themagnetic field encompassing the transducers 23, which leads to anunbalanced condition of the differential bridge.

The unbalanced bridge condition causes the secondary winding of thetransformer 25 to be energised which sets the actuator 24 in operationto cut out the drive unit 21 of the wire-rope winding machine.

When utilizing a signalizer comprising the radiant energy emitter 27,detector 28 and a number of discs 29 with holes 30, which discs arerigidly fastened to each holder 7, the radiant energy emitter 27 and thedetector 28 are switched on simultaneously with energization of theelectromagnets 22.

A beam produced by the emitter 27 is brought to the detector 28 throughthe holes 30 made in the discs 29 which are fastened to the reelholders.

Should the bearings 5 of'one of the holders 7 become jammed thecorresponding disc 29 turns and the beam is cut off.

In this case, the radiant energy detector 28 sends a signal to cut outthe drive unit 21 of the machine and the rotation of the rotor l ceases.

At vertical or inclined location of the axes of the rotors 1 operationof the machines remains unchanged.

The wire-rope winding machine with a twisting portion according to thepresent invention is reliable and safe in operation and at vertical orinclined positioning of the rotors 1 it becomes possible tosubstantially reduce the production floor area occupied by thewiremaking equipment and increase labour productivity.

What we claim is:

1. In a wire-rope winding machine the twisting portion comprising: aframe mounting a hollow rotor on supports said rotor being made ofnon-magnetic mate rial; a drive unit for said rotor imparting to thelatter to tary motion; at least two'wire-reel holders installed in saidrotor along the axis thereof so that the common center of gravity of theholders with the reels lies on the axis of the rotor; a wire forming diefixed on said frame coaxially with said rotor; electromagnets installedon said frame with the magnetic field of each electromagnet encompassingthe corresponding holder and restraining the latter from rotation whenthe rotor is rotating; at least two choking transducers positioned inthe magnetic field of each of said electromagnets and serving asposition signalizers of said holders in case the latter are seized bysaid rotor during rotation thereof, said choking transducers beingelectrically connected to said drive unit of the rotor for stopping itsrotation when said holder deviates from a stationary position.

2. Wire-rope winding machines with a twisting portion comprising: aframe mounting a hollow motor on supports said rotor being made fonon-magnetic material; a drive unit for said rotor imparting to itrotary motion; at least two wire-reel holders instaled in said rotoralong the axis thereof so that the common center of gravity of theholders with the reels lies on the rotor axis; a rope forming die fixedon said frame coaxially with said rotor; electromagnets installed onsaid frame with the magnetic field of each electromagnet encompassingthe corresponding holder and restraining it from rotation together withsaid rotor; at least two choking transducers positioned in the magneticfield of each of said electromagnets and serving as position signalizersof said holders in case the latter are seized by the rotor duringrotation thereof, said choking transducers electrically connected tosaid drive unit of the rotor for stopping the rotation of the latterwhen said holder deviates from a stationary position, characterized inthat the machines are disposed in two rows, and the axes of the rotorsof the twisting portions thereof are located at an angle of 0-60 of thevertical.

1. In a wire-rope winding machine the twisting portion comprising: aframe mounting a hollow rotor on supports said rotor being made ofnon-magnetic material; a drive unit for said rotor imparting to thelatter rotary motion; at least two wirereel holders installed in saidrotor along the axis thereof so that the common center of gravity of theholders with the reels lies on the axis of the rotor; a wire forming diefixed on said frame coaxially with said rotor; electromagnets installedon said frame with the magnetic field of each electromagnet encompassingthe corresponding holder and restraining the latter from rotation whenthe rotor is rotating; at least two choking transducers positioned inthe magnetic field of each of said electromagnets and serving asposition signalizers of said holders in case the latter are seized bysaid rotor during rotation thereof, said choking transducers beingelectrically connected to said drive unit of the rotor for stopping itsrotation when said holder deviates from a stationary position. 2.Wire-rope winding machines with a twisting portion comprising: a framemounting a hollow rotor on supports said rotor being made ofnon-magnetic material; a drive unit for said rotor imparting to itrotary motion; at least two wire-reel holders installed in said rotoralong the axis thereof so that the common center of gravity of theholders with the reels lies on the rotor axis; a rope forming die fixedon said frame coaxially with said rotor; electromagnets installed onsaid frame with the magnetic field of each electromagnet encompassingthe corresponding holder and restraining it from rotation together withsaid rotor; at least two choking transducers positioned in the magneticfield of each of said electromagnets and serving as position signalizersof said holders in case the latter are seized by the rotor duringrotation thereof, said choking transducers electrically connected tosaid drive unit of the rotor for stopping the rotation of the latterwhen said holder deviates from a statIonary position, characterized inthat the machines are disposed in two rows, and the axes of the rotorsof the twisting portions thereof are located at an angle of 0*-60* ofthe vertical.